How To Play Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf

Below on this page I'll explain to you how to play Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf. Also on this page you'll find my demo video clip and free tabs in the lower right hand menu.

Steppenwolf was formed in 1967 and lasted only until 1974 when the band split up due to personality conflicts. But during this time, the band had 6 top 40 hits.

In 1968, the album "Second" was released and on it were two monst hits called "Born To Be Wild" and "Magic Carpet Ride", which peaked at #3. Magic Carpet Ride is considered to be the first modern rock video.

John Kay still performs after 40 years since the band first started and he is the only original member of the group.

You will notice a difference between the album version and the single version of this song. The album version is 4 min and 25 sec long whereas the single version is only 2 min 55 sec in length.



The chords in this song are D, C, G, A# and E. I start this off with a quick shuffle on D and quickly move to the E chord before launching into the D chord to start off the verse.



When you listen to this song it relies alot on the hammond organ in the break. I cover a few slides to use in the full instructional tutorial. There isnt really alot of guitar picking in this one, but everything I do in the demo is covered in full in the instructional tutorial.

                 

Free Tab Available


-- $3.25 --

Full Tutorial - .wmv format - 16 min 27 sec

---

When you start off this song you can use a steady up and dn shuffle as you move from the D to the E chord. Once you start singing you can use 3 down strokes then an up-dn, and then a dn-up-dn-dn and repeat. Then you use one down stroke on the line "close you eyes girl" etc.

There is a slight riff when you play the G chord with a steady up and down shuffle by playing the D string on the third fret, then 2nd fret and then open.

I hope you found this How To Play Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf useful and informative.

Feel free to tweet about it (bottom of the page) or like it on Facebook from the "Like" button above or below as that is also most welcomed.

Return to Top Rock Songs
From How To Play Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf

Return to Classic Rock Songs